Musicscan: How hard was it coming up with new material this time around? Did you feel any pressure about trying to make another highly successfull album?

Soilwork: I would say everything came out pretty easy.. There has been some pressure
of course but we always turn it into something good and get more focused on
the whole writing process. As usual we had a pretty short period of time to
write the songs but that´s when the best ideas come up and we don´t add too
much..

Musicscan: What did you guys do differently on "Stabbing The Drama" that you hadn't done previously to keep things progressing?

Soilwork: With this new album i really think we found the perfect balance between the
melodies and the intensity. We lost a little bit of the intensity on the
previous album and that´s something that we really wanted to bring back in
the music. I would also say that our albums are being more solid everytime
and we also bring in new interesting directions to make it a challenge both
for the listeners and ourselves..

Musicscan: How do most Soilwork songs come to be? What's the writing process like? How long does it take, on average, to finsh a song?

Soilwork: We usually write the songs on the computer and then we get together to
discuss the songs and everybody brings their opinions and blood into the
music. Usually it´s 3 people who writes the songs in the band. Usually it
doesn´t take very long to get the basic ideas for a song, sometimes it takes
2 hours cause you´ve got it all in your head and sometimes a couple of
days..

Musicscan: You guys seem to master your instruments and you also throw in guitar solos in your songs and stuff. How important is that for you?

Soilwork: The solos are to us more an effect than a "show off" thing, if the song
needs a solo we put it there and we really never put a solo just because
it´s matter of creating a vibe in the songs. I would say that melodies is
the most important thing for us, it just comes in different shapes..

Musicscan: Is it kind of a different thing to you to write songs today, now that you are more skilled with your instruments?

Soilwork: No not really, i guess we have just learned that you don´t really have to
make everything so complicated and technical to make a song. You really have
to sit down and think what you want to express with the song and focus on
the creativity instead of the technicality..

Musicscan: Do you feel you'll always keep a brutal edge to your music? Over the years Soilwork have become less extreme compared to the earlier releases out of my view

Soilwork: Hmm, well don´t think we have becom less brutal, i would say we´ve become a
bit slower but heavier in a way.. fast songs doesn´t always mean that the
song is brutal.. We have really broaden our aspects on music through the
years and come to the conclusion that we want to create more than just
"brutal music"..

Musicscan: There are quite a lot of bands with the trademarked 'Gothenburg' sound. What do you feel your band brings to the sound?

Soilwork: For me the gothenburg-sound is no more. The swedish scene is so much more
diverse and interesting nowadays. Mostly of the bands coming out of that
scene has developed their own sound through the years but i guess something
that is very common for mostly swedish bands is the melodies. We simply like
to create timeless melodies that stands out and doesn´t really follow a
trend..

Musicscan: Also, speaking of the Swedish melodic death metal scene, how do you feel about the path some of your compatriots have taken, like In Flames?

Soilwork: I think In Flames sounds more interesting today even though i prefer RTR
than STYE, it´s not only about mixing folkmelodies with metal, there is so
much more i think.

Musicscan: Soilwork progressed a lot over the releases, too. How do you judge your development yourself? At what point did you start years ago and whats bands position as of now?

Soilwork: We feel more united nowadays and really know what we want to achieve with
the music and really have the same vision with the music as well. We´ve
become much better songwriters anjd today i really think we have a very
unique sound and deserve more recognition, i think with this new album we
will hit off pretty well..

Musicscan: What message where you trying to portray through "Stabbing The Drama"? Do you feel you were successful in this respect?

Soilwork: To really present an album with a lot of presence and also show that we are
not afraid to break the boundaries of metal...

Musicscan: How about the vocals? Bjorn Strid got great range from his singing to growling to screaming. Has he had any vocal training in support of the new album?

Soilwork: I stopped using a vocalcoach after A predator´s portrait and have been
practising on my own since then. I guess i just needed that extra "push" and
learn about techniques and stuff. I´ve benn feeling more and more confident
through the years and i think i really sound more confident than ever on the
new album, it feels very upfront and naked..

Musicscan: And when you were writing, did you kind of write with the intent of displaying his vocal range more in terms of the screaming and singing?

Soilwork: Yeah, we wanted to have my vocals with less harmonies nad more up front as i
said. We really wanted people to be able to hear the shape of my voice thgis
time and not just only in "harmony-packages". Even though there´s a pretty
big difference between my screamy vocals nad the clean ones i really believe
it brings a lot of diversity and depth to the music..

Musicscan: Are you getting attention from major labels now, after you have build up constantly over the years with highly successfull releases?

Soilwork: Well, i guess.. We are not really interested, we don´t wanna drown on a
major label and maybe in the worst case work with people that don´t know how
to promote and deal with metal..

Musicscan: Any last words?

Soilwork: Check out the album and stay tune for shows!! We can´t wait to play those
songs live!!